


Why Did You Do That?

by thenakednymph



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Christ I tried to post this earlier and LOST chapter two, Dramatic Love Confessions, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Lance (Voltron), I found it so everything is okay!, Love Confessions, Mutual Pining, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), What is it with Lance and bombs?, Worried Keith (Voltron), because what else, body shields, flangst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2020-05-02 08:24:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19195219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thenakednymph/pseuds/thenakednymph
Summary: Lance throws himself between Keith and a bomb. Keith wants answers.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I’m bored out of my mind, have a thing.

“Bomb, bomb!” Lance lunges back from the core crystal, barely spotting the device. He and Keith are on the other side of the room, cut off from the other paladins closest to the door.

Shiro herds Hunk and Pidge from the room at Lance’s warning, all but throwing them through the door, glancing back at Keith and Lance. He looks ready to run back in for them but Lance knows there’s no time. He can feel the explosion coming.

“Seal it!” he shouts, grabbing Keith as the timer strapped under the crystal between them hits zero and the bomb detonates. He doesn’t think, just reacts. 

The shock ripples through the plates under their feet as Lance grabs Keith by the arm, hurling him into a corner. The concussion throws him into Keith, covering Keith’s body with his own before he can argue, their helmets snapping sharply together. 

His ears ring and he shuts his eyes, one hand on Keith’s helmet to keep his head down as he presses him further into the corner. The whole room shakes, heat and sound buffeting them, screaming in Lance’s ears as the crystal shatters.

A blinding light turns the room upside down and Lance’s legs nearly buckle as something slams into him, helmet to heel. Pain hits him sharp and hard, their helmets colliding again as bits of metal and stone scatter across the walls on either side of them, fire rolling out to greet them, searing across Lance’s suit and he presses tighter over Keith, trying to protect him from the worst of it. 

Silence falls hard and fast, Lance’s ears ringing. He has to blink dark spots from his vision and it takes him a moment to find his footing, his hand slipping from Keith’s helmet. 

The pain is faint and distant and Lance feels a pressure in his head and chest. His body shifts strangely as he pulls back but Lance can’t place what’s wrong. He’s numb with adrenaline and it’s difficult to pull a full breath.

“Keith? You okay?” He steps back, hands skimming over Keith’s helmet, his shoulders and chest, looking for injuries. The walls on either side of them are scorched black but their armor protected them from the worst of it, a fine layer of soot streaking the plates. 

Keith stares at Lance owlishly, still trying to process what just happened. There’s not a scratch on him. 

“I’m fine,” he says weakly, eyes wide. “Are you-”

Lance’s expression is grim and he blinks, trying to clear his blurry vision. His hand settles on Keith’s shoulder as he sways. 

“Lance?” 

His vision starts to darken and fuzz and he can’t pull a deep enough breath. 

“Think I’m...gonna pass out,” he manages and then his rubber legs are collapsing, melting beneath him and Keith struggles to catch him. Lance’s dead weight drags them both to the floor. His eyes are wide as he lays there, staring up at the ceiling. 

“Oh…” he breathes, somehow surprised. “That hurts.” 

Blood smears across the floor and Keith feels bits of metal pricking at his hands through the gloves where he’s holding Lance and rolls him over, trying to understand. 

What Keith sees makes him sick. 

Gnarled metal and chunks of the ruined crystal are sticking out of Lance’s back, smaller pieces dotting his body all the way down to his calves. The armor had protected him somewhat but more than a few pieces have pierced through the plates, shattering them is places. The worst of which is the twisted metal sticking out the back of Lance’s helmet. 

Lance’s armor is streaked with blood and soot, the material of his undersuit burned away in places, charred skin peeking out. What material isn’t destroyed is glossy and slick with blood, smearing across the floor and Keith’s hands. 

Fear grips Keith, Lance’s breath rasping wetly in his chest.

“Shiro!  _ Shiro! _ ” He grips Lance’s shoulder, rolling him back over, trying not to dislodge the shrapnel. 

“No,” Keith whispers, “no, what did you do?” He hauls Lance up into his lap. “Why did you do that?” He chokes on panic as blood begins to pool on the floor, painting his armor red.

Lance blinks up at him dully, trying to focus. “Couldn’t...think of anything else,” Lance gasps, breathing shallow. “No time.”

“I swear to god if you die on me-” Keith’s hands tighten.

“...not that lucky,” Lance breathes, lashes fluttering as he tries to smile, his head hanging limply over Keith’s arm. 

Keith turns Lance’s head, forcing him to look at him. Bloody fingerprint streak over the helmet. 

“You know I care about you right?” Keith’s voice is tight with panic, desperate to tell Lance what he hasn’t had the courage to say before, fear driving him to say it now that he might never get the chance. 

“...know,” Lance says softly. It’s hard to focus. “...care...‘bout you too.” He reaches up, knuckles bumping against Keith’s helmet. Keith catches his hand, holding on tightly. 

Shiro finally forces his way inside, the metal door shrieking as it bends and groans beneath his Galran arm, Hunk and Pidge behind him. 

“You guys okay?” he calls, unable to see them behind what remains of the crystal.

Keith’s head snaps up at the sound of his voice, tears in his eyes. 

“Help me!”


	2. Chapter 2

When the pod opens Keith steps inside it before Lance can fall, one arm around his waist to hold him. Lance is barely conscious when Keith kisses him, still thinks he’s dreaming. He’s so cold but Keith is warm and firm against him and Lance lets himself sink into that heat, that strength, clinging to him weakly, mouth molding to Keith’s. The kiss ends too soon, leaving Lance weaker than before. 

“Please tell me I’m not insane,” Keith murmurs, all but holding Lance upright as he struggles to find his footing on legs that are still too numb to hold him. “That I’m not imagining this.” The hand Keith has on the corner of the pod flexes, Lance’s arms draped loosely around him as he starts to process what’s happening. 

Keith’s voice is a dry rasp. “Please tell me you want me too.”

“Keith?” Lance blinks slowly, his hands twitching.

“Tell me I matter.” He turns his face into Lance’s hair, breathing him in, his breath on Lance’s neck making him shiver. 

“Tell me it’s because you care,” he whispers and there’s a thread of need in his voice, the arm around Lance’s waist tightening. “Tell me you saved my life because we’re more than friends.”

Lance blindly searches out Keith’s cheek, finally raising his head and staring at him through bleary eyes. He bites his lips, holding the secret behind his teeth a moment longer, safe and protected in his heart before he lets it go.

“I’m in love with you.” His voice is tight and afraid, still weak and half asleep from coming out of the pod and trying to catch up.

Keith’s eyes close and he goes weak, leaning into Lance to stay upright, both of them cradling one another. 

“Oh thank god.” He presses Lance into the back wall of the pod and kisses him until he can’t breathe. 

 


End file.
